


Where the Wayne Gala went wrong and ensuing Angst

by Bronywn, crazyjc



Series: The Life and Times of Marinette Drake [3]
Category: DCU, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Bio!Dad AU, Hurt No Comfort, MariBat, Marinette is Martha Antoinette Drake, Marinette is a Drake, Wayne Gala, sorry this will hurt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:00:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23695837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bronywn/pseuds/Bronywn, https://archiveofourown.org/users/crazyjc/pseuds/crazyjc
Summary: Martha Antionette (Marinette) is about seven when she goes to her second gala, and things... go very, very wrong for her.*this is the installment for shared AU.
Series: The Life and Times of Marinette Drake [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1700302
Comments: 22
Kudos: 229





	Where the Wayne Gala went wrong and ensuing Angst

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Bronywn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bronywn/gifts).



> again, shared AU with Bronywn. HEADS UP diverging the series here.

Martha Antoinette decided that Wayne Galas with Jay Jay and Tim are better than just with Tim (but don't tell him that).

“She’s going to take the mansion and the good vacation houses and leave him with the one that has that weird smell that no one can figure out where its coming from since he’s been looking at everyone but her,” Tim grinned, pointing at a lady pointedly ignoring her husband.

They were playing 'guess the backstory'.

“Oh, good one. Let’s see…” Jay Jay looked around with a grin, pointing to a man holding a toddler with the most confused face Martha Antoinette’s seen on a real person. “He was just given his niece that he’s never met before due to mysterious circumstances, and the girl thinks he’s her new vomit victim.”

Tim laughed a little at that.

She had to do good since its her turn now... but there's nothing good for those two but she guesses a Chloe type backstory should do.

“Uh, those three,” Martha Antoinette pointed to the women in frighteningly similar dresses in one corner turned away from everyone else, “had their designer steal from the same intern that got moved around a lot for chewing gum too loud in the designing room.”

Jay Jay snorted at that, “chewing gum too loud?”

Martha Antoinette nodded gravely. “Chloe’s mom fired a guy for it when he refused to work from home or anything if he was gonna do that the whole time he was designing.”

“Wow,” Jay Jay shook his head. It was his 'damn rich people' head shake. “She really must have not like him.”

“Is that the same guy who said bottle caps were a good not-fabric to use?” Tim asked with a frown as he did listen to Martha and Chloe and Audrey complain about that during their last visit.

“Yeah,” Martha screwed up her face at that memory. “Who wants their clothes to be prickly?”

“Crazy rich people,” Jay Jay stage whispered.

Martha and Tim shared a look, as yes, they were technically part of the 'crazy-rich people' group and but weren't crazy. They are both perfectly sane and make good choices that Mrs. Mac approves of. Mostly. (the trap door was very not-approved).

“You’re not wrong, Tim mumbled under his breath.

“And I think one of the singer ladies would," Martha Antoinette murmured. She saw one on TV that had cupcakes on her chest and another one in dressed up like cotton candy.

“Entertainers are like that,” Jay Jay nodded. “All about the theatrics.”

Martha giggled at that while Tim huffed with that Tim-Tam Cannot Approve But Is Amused secret smile.

“Hey, Jaybird—you are hoarding the littles and left me to the harpies." Dick grinned a little too tight. "Your turn to face the demons.”

“Ah, no can do _Dick_.” Jay Jay grit his teeth a bit, turning to Dick and not the little Drakes who he is (in theory) watching for Bruce and the Drakes.

Martha let herself drift a bit since she could feel tiny knives (frustration) coming off of Jay Jay now. She doesn’t like feeling someone else’s frustration, even if it wasn't pointed at her. She knows Tim is going to get all jello wiggly spills (concerned panic) so she can't focus on his feelings either. Not if she wants to not be an embarrassment.

“Ah, but you can-do,” Dick smiled back, tighter than before.

Martha looked off to the windows. (She didn't like arguments like this. They get messy and she doesn't know how to stop from spilling herself and the sandy swirls come fast and mean then. She hates sandy-swirls.) Something Big was over there. Loud.

“Uh, Dick? Maybe you can both stay here?” Tim tried to placate his (heroes) fellow Batfam fans. But she could (feel) tell it wasn't going to work.

No, something felt… bad (Scary. It was Bad Glowy, burning Happy and something Sharp). It was far out one way and she needed to fix it, if she did the feeling would go away. (And she wouldn't have to feel the knives getting sharper between Dick and Jay Jay while Tim-Tam starts to spill and swirl and she feels what she thinks is seasick. Then she'd get sand-swirlies and be an embarrassment and that's Bad, so she'd be Bad. She doesn't want to be Bad.)

“Sorry, but Bruce demands a sacrifice and I did my due, now its Jay’s turn with the demons.”

“They have claws Dick, and I did my stint last time when you ran off to play with the kiddos. My turn to have fun.”

Martha furrowed her brow in the window’s direction. She couldn’t see anything that might make _that_ kind of feeling… 

She had to investigate. Its what Batman would do.

“Jay, be reasonable, Debora found me. I needed the out.”

“An’ you dragged me to take over when I was talkin' to—“

Martha stopped paying them attention then. She needed to be Alert, yes, but not Focused on Not-This-Feeling.

She wove through the crowd with ease, ignoring the other strong pulses of feelings that ran about. This one (bad, fix, danger if don’t) needed to be fixed. now. Someone might be in danger and she’s not going to run (Gotham fights back, and she’s from Gotham. She won’t run away—its not a storm. She can fight the bad, she thinks. Its what Tim Tam's best friend would do. (Robin, obviously. Why else would Tim-Tam have so many pictures of him? It's okay Tim-Tam, she'll keep your secret until you and Robin are ready to tell her, and if you're not its okay. She knows heroes and masks are Serious Business, and she's no where near big enough for that yet.)

She paused by the big window, squinting as the feeling was there before but it moved, and she couldn't tell where if she focused on the window any more. And she Has to find who it was from. 

They were moving fast now (hurt? Danger came? She doesn’t know. She HAS to know.)

Martha bolted, ignoring the reporters moving to Mr. Wayne (from Metropolis? She thinks the lady is the one that’s saved by “Boring Blue Boyscout” all the time, but she could be wrong. Adults look a lot alike, like "Boring Blue Boyscout and the man with the lady).

She missed the boy with them completely, since he didn’t feel anything like the thing was chasing. (no Bad Glowy, Burning Happy, or Too Sharp, it was the Too Sharp she was after.)

If she had, she might have noticed the kid was staring at her, or that he was whispering to his dad, “She’s here again!” excitedly.

She might not have missed the soft look the man gave his son, or the man murmuring “try to talk to her this time.”

If she had notice that, she might have slowed down in her chase to see what the boy wanted and why he was interested in her. It might have saved her from what happened next.

As it was, she didn’t. And so the events played out as they did.

Martha Antoinette plowed on in her fancy dress (too much stiff, not enough soft) and chased the feeling through the building Mr. Wayne rented for the evening.

She frowned when she made her way to the kitchen and saw people look like the horror movie victims from commercials before the blood splatter.

The _bad danger_ and _Too Sharp_ grew. It was getting in other places.

Tim. She had to get Tim—he’d know what to do. And if he didn’t, Jay Jay was there and Mr. Wayne and Dick. One of them would know what to do, right?

She was having trouble breathing but she kept running, chasing the (scary, Bad Glowy, Burning Happy and _Too Sharp_ ) feeling and moving as fast as she could.

There were screams.

And she had to fight the crowd because Tim-Tam is in there and its Tim-Tam! (She can’t leave him behind, can’t lose him. It’s too empty and echo-y and bad, bad-bad BAD when he’s not there. Its wrong and she feels sick thinking about him Not There because the hospital said he’s hurt and can’t go. She can’t fight the shadow monsters or the recordings of Dad saying “she’ll learn her duty to the family in time” or Mom murmuring about kids Timmy’s age being her forever person (because that’s what married people are, Mrs. Mac told her a hundred times over, the person you love in the dating way—not the timeline but the kissy kind—and want to stay with like that forever and they agreed to). She can’t handle that without Tim Tam. She Can't.)

Its _Too Sharp_ and she can’t. The sand-swirlies are back and they're extra mean.

She can’t breathe anymore and something—one—grabbed her and laughed and it was like the mister wars with Tim and Jason and Dick but it was Wrong. _wrongwrongwrong. WRONG._

The room wasn’t right and there were things that she couldn’t feel moving toward her (Shadow people, the evil clowns that make people go away and laugh until the soul and mind and everything runs from the body because its worse to live in the body stuck like that than live. That’s what Mrs. Mac said on the phone when Martha was supposed to be napping. She wasn’t.)

She was shaking and things weren’t making sense and she _needed_ to get up high and see things weren’t as scary as head on. But she can’t find place and the shadow things are getting closer and she’s so—so scared.

Something tries to grab her but nothing is making sense and there’s too much _Sharp_ and **Danger** and she hits and kicks as hard as she can (just like Mrs. Mac told her to if she ever got grabbed. _Don’t go down without making hell look like a Carebear. This is Gotham—we fight_ ). Just like Alfred and Jay Jay and Dick showed her to when Mr. Wayne wasn't around to stop them (thumb under fingers, force from shoulder, keep your balance with a big kick and bend as far back as you can then straighten fast to make it hurt).

She curls in on herself when someone even bigger gets her (oh god its Joker isn’t it? He’s going to kill her like he did that Jump City teen last month. Tim will be alone. Mrs. Mac won’t have anyone to bake with. Her wasps will get killed by Mom and Dad. All because she chased that bad feeling and couldn’t fix it. She’s a bad person. She's Bad-Bad and hurts people and that's all WRONG but it has to be true. She let people get hurt because she died. She must be Bad because the movies always have the Good People live.)

Martha Antoinette made a small scared sound as she kept lashing out, unaware it was Superman holding her so she didn’t further injure anyone (her wrist wasn’t sitting right… he’d check that later when she wasn’t lashing out) and Batman was acting off. (Robin was talking to the police outside) This kid managed to injure eight people trying to help her so far, and Superman wasn't sure how high that number would ahve gone if he wasn't there.

She was squirming too much to get the antidote to her either way. And he couldn't put any more pressure on her himself (she's made of tissue paper compared to him. He could hurt her and she's so little. He can't. No, he needs to let Bru--Batman. He needs to let Batman do this, even if his heartbeat switched patterns when he saw this girl. Even if its obvious the man knows this girl, she needs someone that isn't Superman-Humans-Are-Super-Fragile, Don't-Give-Him-Tinier-Panicked-Ones to knock her out).

Batman put just enough pressure on her head and neck to knock her out safely while Superman held her. He did his best not to give anything away, but he knew Superman (Clark, because honestly, his secret identity is painfully obvious) put it together anyway. _Damn Kryptonians_. 

A distraught Tim managed to break back in—Batman would have a talk with him about that later—with Robin hot on his heels.

Only for Robin’s face to fall at the sight of Martha Antoinette in a choke hold by Batman with Superman holding her.

Not to mention Tim yelling “Mare!” with too wide eyes.

Robin held him back while Batman administered the antidote, Superman carrying her to the medics outside with concern written all over his face.

He froze when he noticed her parents were checking on Tim, emotionally distraught and still trying to reach Martha Antoinette twenty feet away (now with medics scurrying around her, trying to get her to a hospital) rather than their unconscious daughter who there is a debate over the need to hospitalize.

Robin was hovering. Superman knew he knew the girl, and that Batman did too. 

He’d really need to get the girl’s name later—his son likes her and apparently Robin knows her. And if he isn't mistaken, her family is rather unconcerned with her being unconscious and now in an ambulance (going to the hospital alone) while the boy that ran in is clearly trying to chase the ambulance after her.

For now he had his own family to tend to without breaking “Superman, Public Hero” form, and later help Batman figure out how to take the two in. He was fairly certain the girl is being trained already (and Bruce, she is really young. Focus on training her brother for the cape if that's what's going on. He gets the next Robin and Bat-girl duo training is important but maybe keep them from the streets or under heavy supervision.) 

\--

Martha would wake up much later with a big sling, Tim curled at her bedside, and she swore--- _swore—_ she saw the legendary traffic light (for some reason they never have pants. She wants to talk to Batman about this now. That’s not safe! That's Bad Armor Design and they would have Words Mr. Batman. When she finds him. She's sleepy and things are foggy.)

Tim would try to get her to talk but the pair would be quick to discover she couldn’t if they tried to get her to say anything about the gala. She could write, sign (she liked the movements, and Tim said it could be useful for the future. She thinks he meant attacks or business meetings) and type if someone gave her a laptop. But she couldn’t talk about it.

Apparently she was faking not talking for attention? She didn’t get it. How would someone fake it? and why? it’s scary! And she hates the fact it takes longer to ‘talk’ to people since Tim isn’t the best as sign and she’s not the best speller in English and his French is beyond abysmal so that doesn’t work either and her handwriting isn’t “legible” but “very good for a doctor.”

When the hospital discharged her, Mrs. Mac took her to the airport in tears.

She wasn't allowed to be a Drake anymore. Or Martha Antoinette. Or in Gotham.

She was "Marinette Cheng" staying with Chloe in Paris because she was a bad person and a liar even when she was telling truth. She can't talk all the time anymore and she doesn't know why and she can't see Tim-Tam since _he's not hers and she's not his_ since he's Martha Antoinette Drake's.

Marinette Cheng has nobody.

\--

It would take a month before the Waynes would find out Martha was sent away.

Jason would find out when he went to check on her as Robin--it wasn't unusual for Robin to check up on victims a while later, and it was a busy month, okay?

He'd didn't creep in either! He used the door even though the window would have been So Much easier. The kids were both spooked by the whole thing.

And okay, he may have picked the lock but still.

The place was too (empty) big for his taste. 

He found Tim in nearest room, watching TV curled up on the couch.

"Heya, Tim Drake right?" Robin began with a grin.

Tim turned around and something wasn't right with the kid right off the bat, but Scarecrow tends to do that to people. It's why he came. (Not answering any of their calls. No one coming or going but Tim. Mrs. Mac left Gotham completely last week. Things were missing and it wasn't a pretty picture if Pixie really was home alone when Tim was at school. Not right. None of what these kids were going through was.)

Tim nodded slowly, almost like he wasn't used to people talking to him but that couldn't be, Pixie talks your ear off if you're not careful.

"Good to see you're still up, well, not really since its late an all but uh," Robin gestured to himself, "can't really judge, ya feel?"

Tim didn't react. That uh. That was very not good.

"So, I know you got a lil' sister that had a bad scare too, figured I should check up on you an' 'er."

Tim looked away and said something that made Jason's blood freeze.

"She's gone."

"What." Jason bleed over Robin then. "What do you mean she's gone!"

"Mom and Dad sent her away."

"What--where?" He had to reign Jason in, be more Robin. "Fear toxin fixes ain't exactly standard outside of Gotham." 

"I." Tim turned back to the TV then. "I don't know."

Jason took a deep breath as Martha Antoinette was Somewhere Not In Gotham, dealing the side affects of Scarecrow's fear toxin somewhere's else where they don't know what they're doing.

"Well." He was getting mean. This is about little Martha Antoinette, his Pixie, out there without anyone watching her back that knows what's up. He's pissed. "What _do_ you know."

Tim was silent.

"So what, your sister get's taken, and you do nothing--no lookin' inta it or anythin'!" Jason took over again as this is Pixie. Alone. Danger-prone, Will-Run-Into-A-Blizzard-For-Pet-Wasps, beat up eight people hyped up on fear toxin, Pixie. 

Tim stayed silent.

"Fuck. Just, FUCK! She needs your ass and you're doin' jackall? Shit, no wonder she keeps gettin' inta trouble and almost dying!" He missed Tim wince. "Her fucking brother can't do shit when she needs him!"

Tim didn't respond. (Je has to deserve this. Everything he tried to stop his parents failed. He can't get her back unless he and Mare are Good Kids but she's selectively mute now and they don't believe her. They fired Mrs. Mac for coddling them too. (Alone. Always alone now. Like before Mare came into his life. He hates being alone.) He just, he has to deserve this (alone. Always alone) for being a **bad** brother. Otherwise Robin-- _Jason_ \--wouldn't be saying any of this. This has to be his fault. Robin wouldn't say it if it wasn't.)

"You don't deserve her. And she sure as shit doesn't deserve this," Jason hissed as he left. He had a Batman to update and a Bruce to sic on this case. 

They were getting Pixie back. ( ~~Maybe he'd apologize once Pixie was back. Kid is eleven but fuck, he's smart. How could he not stop this shit from happening to his baby sister?~~ )

One way (legal) or another. (Less legal, he wasn't above kidnapping to get her safe and where she belongs.)

**Author's Note:**

> I am so, so sorry for those of you that are following the Life and Times series. the next part is by Bronywn here https://archiveofourown.org/works/23758417 
> 
> As now I gift you ANGST and delayed adoption route (it happens eventually is the only consolation i can give)
> 
> The Martha Drake followers, I will continue the fluffy and integration of Martha and Tim into the Wayne family (via Bruce giving the Drakes a Talk and mentioning Legal Involvement if they continued to make an eleven year old and old Mrs. Mac the main caretakers for Martha and continue to discourage the pair from seeking the Waynes for help. Legally both are drakes… in Gotham its ‘ah, we were wondering when this was going to happen again. two for one this time. The adoption rivalry with Batman is ignited anew’ reaction.


End file.
